After a the first day of the Big 12 Conference Championship that saw five Cyclones eliminated, the remaining five wrestlers looked to capitalize.

The only Cyclone to clinch a spot at the NCAA Tournament was 149-pounder and No. 4 seed Jarrett Degen.

In Degen’s first match of the day, he beat No. 8 seed Dane Robbins from Air Force 9-5. That win solidified Degen’s NCAA bid.

That win against Robbins put Degen in the third place match against Wyoming’s Sam Turner, who was the No. 5 seed. Degen was able to open up offensively and beat Turner by a 20-5 tech fall in the third period.

At 141-pounds, No. 4 Ian Parker lost his first match 3-2 against Northern Iowa’s Josh Alber. Alber was the No. 3 seed and is ranked No. 9 in the nation at 141-pounds.

Parker then faced a familiar opponent in Oklahoma’s No. 11 Mike Longo, who Parker beat 4-2 on Jan. 26. Parker was able to squeak out another close win by winning 2-1 to finish in fifth place.

157-pounder Chase Straw fell just short of earning an automatic bid in the third place match.

Straw, the No. 5 seed, won his first match 6-5 to put him in the third place match over No. 7 Alex Mossing from Air Force. Then, Straw faced off against No. 3 Luke Zilverberg from South Dakota State.

Straw was unable to upset Zilverberg and secure the berth by a a final score of 2-0. Straw finished in fourth place.

The lowest seeded Cyclone to reach the podium was Dane Pestano. He was the No. 7 seed.

Pestano beat Oklahoma State’s Keegan Moore, who was the No. 4 seed, 3-2, but Pestano was tech falled 16-0 by No. 5 Chaz Polson from Wyoming in the fifth place match to finish at sixth.

At heavyweight, No. 2 Marcus Harrington put himself in position to finish in the top three and secure an NCAA bid, but came up short.

Harrington majored his first opponent 18-4, and in the third place match faced No. 4 Dustin Dennison from Utah Valley. Dennison was able to overcome Harrington winning 6-5.

Despite four Cyclones falling short of the automatic bids, the NCAA will announce the wrestlers who have secured at-large bids on March 6.

After March 6, the field will be set and Iowa State will have a week off until competition begins on March 15 in Cleveland, Ohio.